My Version of Highway to Cell
by Love7thheaven
Summary: A fateful phone call makes Martin realize where his heart really lies and where its been all along.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own or know the cast or the characters and am in now way affiliated with the show, the WB or any other network. Just writing the fanfic because I love to write and if the show doesn't give us Martin and Ruthie together (still have a smidgen of a hope they do) this is the next best thing I guess. I have no idea what the actual episode is going to be like, so just writing from the heart:)

**Rated:** T

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**My version of Highway to Cell **

Mac looked across the crowded Promenade and followed the bouncy brown curls of Ruthie as she laughed and ate ice cream with her friend Maggie. He felt a slight shiver of attraction go through him as it did every time he saw those familiar coffee coloured eyes and hair. He couldn't believe that he had let Martin talk him out of asking Ruthie out the year before. He could have sworn that…nah, Martin couldn't have been jealous. Could he? Mac thought to himself.

Ruthie stopped walking, frowning slightly. She looked around her with a look of confusion on her face. Maggie stopped giggling when she realized her friend had paused a few feet behind her. She turned to Ruthie with a look of concern.

"Ruthie, are you okay? You got quiet all of a sudden." She followed Ruthie's gaze. "Are we looking for something or somebody?" she grinned.

Ruthie shook her head. "Have you ever had the feeling that someone is watching you?"

"Umm…" Maggie searched around and smiled when she spotted a blond guy in a jean jacket leaning against a light post, staring directly at them. "Maybe like that cute blond guy over there?"

"What blond guy?" Ruthie asked, following Maggie's quick nod of her head towards Mac. "Oh him. That's Martin's friend Mac. We…uhh…hung out a few times last year."

"Why didn't you tell me he was so cute?" Maggie twirled a finger in her hair and struck a flirty pose.

Ruthie shook her head and laughed. She started to walk away, but Maggie's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Wait; let's see what he wants…"

A broad smile curved his lips when he realized that he had caught their attention. He laughed and shook his head when Ruthie's long, blond haired friend tried looking flirty. _What could it hurt_, he thought, _if I went over there and just said hi. We're kind of friends after all. _Martin would surely understand if he wanted to be friends with Ruthie, especially since neither of them had seen Martin once he'd accepted the scholarship and moved close to Sandy to help with Aaron. Besides, he missed his best friend and it would be nice just to have someone to talk to. He pushed himself off the lamp post and stuck his hands into his pockets, moving through the crowd of Promenade visitors enjoying the warm Glenoak evening. Noticing that Ruthie was trying to dart away, he quickened his steps and was at her and her friends side with in seconds.

"Hi Ruthie. Haven't seen you in a while, how are you?" he asked, small smile lighting his features.

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_So, there's the first chapter so far, sorry if it seems so short. It's my first time writing a fan fiction, so if anyone has any suggestions or ways to make it better, I'm all ears:). Just let me know if you'd like more! There will be Martin and Ruthie romance in the next couple of chapters. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Story line is purely fictional, as I do not own anything affiliated with 7th heaven or the WB (though if any of us did, I bet we would make it a little different sometimes, hehehe).

Hi everyone! I resubmitted chapter two and tweaked it a little bit :)

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_**What's been happening so far…**Mac met Ruthie and her friend Maggie at the Promenade…_

Ruthie raised her head and grinned sheepishly at Mac. "Uh…hi Mac. I'm great!" she chirped with false brightness.

Maggie flicked her friend a disbelieving glance and frowned slightly. "No she's not." She raised her voice and pushed Ruthie's hand away when she tried covering Maggie's mouth. "Your friend Martin broke Ruthie's heart. Stomped all over it with his fake caring and…"

"Maggie!" Ruthie turned to her friend and gasped angrily.

"What? It's the truth isn't it? She was deeply in love with him." She added, looking back at Mac. "And he left without saying a word to her." She stuck her tongue out at Ruthie as if to make a point.

He stifled a laugh and immediately turned serious at the thunderous expression on Ruthie's face. "I knew that you cared for him; you are one of his best friends, other then me of course," he added cockily, puffing up his chest with importance, "but I had no idea that you were in love with him. Did he know?"

Mac then realized that maybe he and Ruthie would just be better off as friends.

Ruthie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in impatience. "Yeah he knew. I told him, kind of. And besides, he has a new baby with Sandy and he loves them now, there's nothing I can do about. And it wasn't false caring, Martin's not like that," she said with strong conviction.

Maggie shook her head and looked at Mac with a pleading look; he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what he could do to help. The jangling tones of Christina Aguilera's _Dirty_ floated out of Mac's pocket insistently. He flushed slightly at the amused look on the two girl's faces.

"Maybe we should head home now Ruthie, we have our Shakespeare assignment to do. It was nice to meet you Mac." she threaded her arm through Ruthie's and smiled warmly at him.

"Oh, okay then. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see you ladies later…" he arched an eyebrow at Maggie.

"Sorry, forgot to introduce you two." Ruthie shook her head and laughed self-consciously, "Mac this is my good friend Maggie. And uh, you might want to answer your phone."

The two shook hands and pulled away quickly when a spark jumped between them, causing both to flush a deep red. As the girls walked away, Maggie's head kept turning every now and again to catch the sight of Mac standing dumbfounded, a small stupid grin plastered on his face staring after them. The buzzing against his thigh brought back Ruthie's last words to him, slamming him back into reality. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, he flipped it open quickly as the giggles of girls walking past him turned into full out laughter at his choice of ring tone. As normal, just as he was ready to answer the ringing stopped.

"Ugh. Typical," he grumbled.

He gazed down at his cell phone before putting it back in his pocket, and a gleam entered his eye as an idea started to form. Remembering the look of pain on Ruthie's face as they had talked about Martin and the look of anguish on Martin's face the last time he'd seen him, he knew now what he had to do; for both his friends' sakes.

"Hey buddy. What's up?"


	3. Chapter 3

**_20 minutes earlier at Sandy's apartment…_**

Martin smiled down at Aaron and stroked his son's cheek lovingly, laughing at the cooing noises and the tiny, fragrant arms swinging back and forth.

"Did you see that Sandy?" he asked as she walked past him on her way to the kitchen. "He's already practicing his swinging for when he becomes a little leaguer. Aren't you little guy?" Aaron beamed his daddy's bright grin in response.

"Martin, not everyone wants to grow up to be a baseball player like you did." She grumbled as she gathered the baby's bottles covering the kitchen table and dropped them in a sink of hot water.

He quirked a dark eyebrow and turned his head to look at her. "I didn't say he has to be a baseball player, he can be anything he wants. I was just saying…"

Sandy sighed, pushing back a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I know what you were saying. It's just that…I don't want him to end up the same way that we…"

"What? Finish what you were going to say. You don't want him to make the same mistake that we did, right? Whether or not he becomes a baseball player, which," he added when she was about to argue, "again is his choice, that has nothing to do with us sleeping together and your getting pregnant. I would like to think that he would make the right choices for himself." He shook his head, where did she get the idea that being a baseball player automatically makes you sleep with a girl and get her pregnant?

"Aaron needs to be changed," she said, changing the subject.

"Already done. Aren't we Aaron?" Martin scooped up his son and held him close to his chest. "What's this really about Sandy? You've been upset and snippy ever since you found out that Simon and Rose moved up their wedding date. Oh," a dawning of understanding crossed his features.

A hint of pink fused in Sandy's cheeks. "It's nothing like that, you don't know what you're talking about. I'm very happy for them. I am." She nodded as if trying to convince herself. "Besides, you haven't exactly been the happiest camper since you left Glenoak. You've been wonderful to both Aaron and myself, but sometimes I catch you looking out the window like you've lost your puppy, or best friend. Why don't you just call Ruthie and ask her how she is?"

He made a silly face at Aaron before placing him in his bassinet they had in the living room before looking up with a barely concealed hurt expression. "I've tried, many times. I'm just so afraid that she wants nothing to do with me now and I just don't think I could stand hearing her so upset. She's my best friend and I don't like to hurt her, but lately…that's all it seems I've done."

She patted his arm in quiet understanding and nodded towards the door. "Why don't you head on home to the dorms, Aaron and I'll be fine today. I was actually thinking on accepting my father's invitation to have a late lunch at the park."

"Okay, but I'll call you later to see how he's doing," he said as he leaned over and gingerly kissed the now sleeping baby's forehead. He paused by the door and smiled slightly, "Maybe someday soon Simon will come to his senses."

Shaking her head laughing, she waved him out the door. He closed it quietly behind him, pulling his jacket tighter around his broad chest against the sudden chill. Sliding behind the wheel of his SUV he was startled as his cell phone rang piercingly. His heart began to beat heavily against his chest, excitement and nervousness coursing through his veins when his first thought was that of Ruthie calling him.

"Hello? Oh, hi Mac," he said, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Aww, so full of sunshine to hear from one your best friends, I'm flattered Martin, really," Mac laughed.

Martin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry man didn't mean to sound like I wasn't happy to hear from you. So, what's up? How's…" he hesitated and cleared his throat, "everyone doing?"

"By everyone you mean Ruthie? Oh, she's doing great. As a matter of fact I ran into her and a cute friend of hers at the Promenade today, and you wouldn't believe how happy she was to see me." Mac smiled to himself, imagining Martin wincing at his words.

"That's great, Mac. Has she…umm, that is how is the rest of the Camden's," he closed his eyes and rested his head on the steering wheel.

"Don't know, haven't seen them in a while, but I'm sure I'll find out soon. Actually, that's one of the reasons I was calling. Do you think if I ask Ruthie to hang out with me that she'll say yes? Seeing as I have no one to hang out with anymore with you being at college I just thought that she and I could be kind of like you guys used to be, good friends."

A deep, tormented growl escaped Martin's mouth before he had a chance to stop it. Surprised by the sound it took him a minute to answer. "I don't know Mac. Ruthie's a big girl; you'll have to ask her yourself. But if you're asking my permission to ask her, that's really none of my business, so go right ahead."

"Hey thanks. Think I'll go over there tonight and see what she's doing. How's Sandy and little Aaron doing? How's life as a father treating you?"

Martin took a deep breath and forced a fake smile onto his face, not that Mac could see it. "Just great. I never knew that I could love the little guy so much and every time he looks at me I find it harder and harder to say good bye when I head back to school. I should let you go though because practice is in about 20 minutes. Talk to you later."

"See ya. Got him right where I want him." Mac smiled in victory and began walking home, whistling.

Martin slammed his hands down on the steering wheel and cursed. His best friend moving in on Ruthie, what the hell was he thinking? Mac knew how Martin felt about her, didn't he? How did he really feel about her anyways? he asked himself honestly. He took his wallet it out of his front pocket and stared at a picture of him and Ruthie goofing around and smiling at each other. He remembered it like it was yesterday. _They were heading home from school and decided to stop for some ice cream before going to the Camden's for dinner. That day Ruthie had been wearing one of his favourite green sweaters that made her eyes sparkle and just so happened to compliment his green eyes perfectly. Just as he was ready to take a lick of his ice cream a kid rolling past on his skateboard hit Martin's back, causing him to stumble forward and the ice cream to become apart of his new black t-shirt. Ruthie had grabbed his camera phone and snapped a few pictures, having the hardest time standing up because she was laughing so hard. _

_"You think that's funny?" he asked, leaping towards her as if he was going to chase her._

_She tried so hard to hold back her laughter that she began tearing up. "Yes, actually it's very funny. That is such a good look for you Martin; you should try it more often." Ruthie shrieked and ran around the Promenade, darting in between customers and hot dog vendors._

_He chased her for a few moments and pretended to give up, only to have her inch towards him, giving him a chance to wrap his arms around her waist and swing her around. "Gotcha."_

_They laughed together, heaving as they tried to catch their breaths. Martin and Ruthie stilled as they realized he was still holding her closely, Ruthie's lashes fanning her cheeks as she gazed up at him, brown eyes melding with green. He slowly let her go and was surprised with the bright light from his camera phone capturing the two of them laughing as she raced off again. _

_"Oh, oh, that's it. This mean's war," he called out to Ruthie as he ran off after her. _

Returning his thoughts to the present, he stroked the picture before starting the car and pulling away from the curb with screeching tires. He finally realized that he more then just cared for Ruthie, he loved her. How could he not, he asked himself, when every time she flashed him one of her grins and laughed at one of his silly jokes that his heart would turn over and melt. There was something he needed to do.

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_Wordy, isn't it? hehe, just wanted to set the stage right for Ruthie and Martin to get together! Once I started writing, I had a hard time stopping, so there's lots more if anyone wants more chapters :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_You guys are so wonderful to write for, thank you so very much for your sweet reviews:) Had so much fun writing tonight I decided to add one more chapter before heading off. Thanks again guys :):)_

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"Ruthie?" Annie called out from the kitchen as she heard the front door slam shut and the excited chatter from two girls float from the hallway.

"Hi mom, what's up?" Ruthie asked as she and Maggie entered the kitchen and dropped their back packs beside the kitchen table.

Annie smiled brightly at her daughter and Maggie, kissing Ruthie's cheek as she walked past and opened the fridge door looking for snacks. "Just something small Ruthie. Dinner will be ready in about an hour when your dad gets home from the church. Are you staying for supper Maggie? We have plenty."

"I would love to Mrs. Camden. Where are the boys?" she asked, looking around the kitchen for them. "I brought them one of my sister's Mr. Mug's books."

"That was sweet Maggie." Annie smiled and kissed her cheek as well. "I'm sure the boys will love it. Sam and David are sleeping over at their friend Kyle's tonight and Kevin and Lucy are heading to St Luc's for dinner, so it'll just be us four plus Savannah."

"We'll be upstairs mom," Ruthie said picking up her back pack and handing Maggie an apple with a bottle of water. "We have an assignment writing our own version of Romeo and Juliet for Mr. Stallwerts class."

Annie's eyes turned misty and her face wistful as she tilted her head. "I used to love Romeo and Juliet when I was your age. The deep and passionate love of two torn between their families feud…" she sighed, clasping her hands to her chest with a small smile. "Your father and I…well anyways, if you either of you need help, just let me know."

Maggie and Ruthie looked at each other and fought the bubbling laughter from erupting.

"You can count on it, Mrs. Camden," Maggie giggled as they ran up the stairs to Ruthie's attic bedroom.

An hour passed quickly, with Maggie lying on the floor with one of Ruthie's pillow's tucked beneath her chin and Ruthie sitting cross legged on her bed with her back against her headboard. Ruthie yawned and raised her arms above her head and stretched.

"I'm all Shakespeared out right now. How about we take a break, supper should be ready by now."

"Sounds good to me. One more thy and thou and I'll go crazy." She giggled and tossed Ruthie's pillow at her friend when Ruthie crossed her eyes making a silly face.

As if on cue Eric knocked on her bedroom door and stuck his head in. "Girls, dinner is ready. How's your family doing Maggie?" he asked grinning as the girls stretched and tossed their books on the bed.

"Pretty good actually. Ouch," she cried with disbelief as a pillow hit the back of her head.

An innocent looking Ruthie passed Eric and Maggie and started towards the stairs.

"Would it help if Ruthie wasn't given her dessert tonight?" Eric asked a teasing glint in his eyes.

Maggie pretended to consider it and grinned. "Why yes, I think tis quite appropriate."

He looked at Ruthie in question.

"We're working on Romeo and Juliet right now," She said as an explanation.

"Ah." He nodded pretending to understand.

Martin had driven non stop to Glenoak, skipping baseball practice to see and speak to Ruthie, hoping that it wasn't too late for the two of them. Looking down at the picture of the two of them now in his hands he hoped that she wouldn't turn him away and would forgive him for not seeing what was there all along. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his thick, dark hair, causing its ends to spike up all over before opening the back gate.

Mac stood with his hand poised in the air ready to knock on the door. He'd taken a chance showing up at the Camden's house praying that Martin would take his intention on asking Ruthie to hang out seriously. Martin stomped over to him, his face dark with anger, and his eyes churning so darkly they looked almost black.

"I can't believe that you would actually have the nerve to come here after Ruthie, especially since you know how I feel about her. I thought you were my best friend."

Mac smirked, his insides dancing because he knew he had won, finally bringing his two friends together as they were meant to be.

"Hey man, I'm just a friend asking another friend to coffee. Would have asked her out last year but someone stopped me. Why is that by the way?" Mac asked, cocking his head to the left questioningly.


	5. Chapter 5

Martin rushed Mac, fisting handfuls of his friend's shirt and pushed him up against the wall by the back door.

**_Camden's dining room…_**

Conversation buzzed happily between Annie, Eric, Ruthie and Maggie as they finished up their desert, Savannah gurgling joyfully in her high chair, chocolate cake smeared on her sweet, tiny face.

Annie's fork hesitated in mid-air as she heard a muted thud from outside. "Eric, did you hear that?"

"Hear what dear?" he asked and flashed her a concerned look when the thud was heard again, this time louder.

"Well, what the heck is going on?" she asked, getting up from her seat and picking up the baby as everyone headed towards the sound.

They gathered at the back kitchen door, Eric opening it quietly, allowing them enough room to all peer out without being noticed.

"Dude, I didn't think you would get this angry. It's just a friendly gesture…ohhh," Mac gasped as Martin let him go suddenly.

Martin shook his head and lowered it, looking at the ground before shoving his hands into his pockets. He raised his gorgeous tear glittering eyes to look at Mac. "I'm sorry man. It's just…I couldn't stand the thought of Ruthie being with anyone else."

A small gasp from the door caught Mac's attention, he smiled to himself realizing that everything was falling into place even better then he thought. Ruthie stood beside her parents and friend with a look of astonishment on her face. He decided to play everything to the hilt.

"How come Martin? And, exactly how do you feel about Ruthie, seeing as you thought I knew about them?"

Ruffling his dark hair again, he shrugged his shoulders and admitted so quietly that everyone had to strain to hear, "I love her. I think I always have, that's why when ever guys came nosing around I did my best to protect her and I guess I was jealous."

Tears began streaming down Ruthie's face, her sharp cry drawing Martin's gaze to her like a magnet. Eric and Annie gripped Ruthie's shoulders for comfort before they headed back inside.

"We'll leave you two to talk. Mac, why don't you join us for desert." Eric asked, gesturing with his head for him to leave Martin and Ruthie alone.

Mac shook his arms, settling his rumpled coat back into place and patted Martin's arm when he tried apologizing. Mac placed a lazy arm over Maggie's shoulders and led her inside, looking back to wink at a stunned Ruthie.

"What was that for?" she asked gesturing towards the house.

Martin laughed and shook his head. "Something tells me that Mac planned this all along."

"But why? How did he even know to do this? Can't say that I'm not extremely grateful though, because I am."

Martin stepped towards her; a grateful and relieved smile curved his lips. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I was afraid that it might have been too late. Wasn't too sure if you'd want to kick me out on my butt."

"If it had happened earlier today I probably would have. Do you have any idea how badly my heart was broken when you told me that you only loved me as a friend when you confessed about having a baby with Sandy. And when you left here to be with Sandy and the baby and didn't say anything…I was just so angry with you, it killed me Martin," she confessed with tears blinding her eyes. "I thought that if we couldn't be together and you didn't love me back, at least you could have done as a friend is say goodbye Ruthie, I'll call you Ruthie…"

He reached her side within seconds and pulled her to him tightly, wrapping his arms around her trembling form, burying his nose in her fragrant hair. He nuzzled her, pulled back slightly and gently kissed her forehead. His green eyes began to water looking down at the fear and hope in her own, his thumbs wiping away her tears.

"Ruthie, I can't tell you how sorry I am." His voice muffled as he rested his forehead on her shoulder.

"I just don't understand Martin, I don't. Were you telling the truth back there a few minutes ago?"

He ran his hands down her arms and laced his fingers with hers, leading her towards the picnic table as the sky blazed a blending of dark reds, purple and pink, the first star appearing in the east. They sat side by side in silence for a moment before Martin spoke with conviction.

"Ruthie, I never ever meant to hurt you, you have to believe that." He ran a finger across her cheek, her eyes closing with pleasure at the simple contact. "I think I always knew deep down that I loved you, but I was afraid to admit it to myself. Mac must have known too because he pulled his little trick off without a hitch," he added laughing.

"Yeah, what was this little trick that he was supposedly doing?" she asked with a little laugh.

"He called me today as I was leaving Sandy's and asked me if I would mind if he asked you to spend some time with him the way that we, you and I, used to. He must have known exactly how I'd react, because my insides boiled with a jealousy I felt every time you were with another guy."

"So, if you felt this jealousy all this time…"

Martin leaned across the table and dropped a kiss on her nose and flushed, a sheepish grin crossing his lips, "Partly because I didn't feel that I had a right to interfere and I needed a little wake up call to make me act. I was afraid and a little confused to admit how I felt Ruthie. Here you were, like a little sister to me before, but then when it changed, I didn't know how to handle it."

She laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I noticed. I'm glad that Mac did what he did though, it brought you to me."

Martin inched his head towards her and whispered a breath from her lips, "So am I. Lord knows, so do I."

Their lips came together, gentle at first as their passion for each other began to ignite, their heads tilted and they deepened the kiss. Ruthie gasped with happiness, giving Martin the opportunity to bring their heads even more impossibly closer and their tongues to touch for the very first time. Ruthie's closed lids opened with a sigh and talked against his soft lips.

"I think we have an audience."

He chuckled and looked over his shoulder and saw four beaming faces spying at them through a kitchen window. "Ah, let them, we've waited too long for this."

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_Hope that was okay...lol, it's a little syrupy sweet (and maybe a little too emotional, so I apologize for that), but when it comes to these two I have a hard time not writing it that way :). Hope that you all have a wonderful week!_


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note

Hi everybody! Just wanted to let you know just how much all your reviews meant to me, they really made an awful week brighten! So thank you so much for that and I just thought you should all know too that you guys are amazing (bluebaby3296, phoenix fan1, heather1021, urbanluver, IloveJoeL., takigirl, DFizzle, ErinTaylor316, jessrory01, Tara, SunkissedCutie, heidi, SmilesAreAllINeed, Baby Dawn and all the wonderful readers on here – would it be too much if I sent out a hug to you all? lol) and I really hope to get another chapter out before the end of the week. Yeah, I was going to make chapter 5 the last one, but, hehe, it was too tempting not to go on.


	7. Chapter 7

_So, here it is, chapter 6...its not the greatest so I'll warn you all ahead of time. Had to wrack my brains to decide what to write, lol. Anyways, have a good weekend everyone :)_

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"So, does that mean we are officially together?" Ruthie whispered.

Martin touched his nose to hers and wrinkled it as he smiled at her, "Mmm, I think it does."

_**Inside the Camden home…**_

"Well," Annie smiled, hugging the fragrant baby to her, "I think its time we went and had some dessert."

Mac rubbed his hands together and grinned wickedly first at Maggie and then towards the dining room. "I can go for a big piece of…"

"Chocolate cake. Come on handsome, I'll cut you a big piece," Maggie winked at Annie and smiled back at her as she led Mac towards the French doors.

"And ice cream? I love ice…" their voices faded as the doors snapped shut silently behind them.

Annie started to follow and stopped when she realized that Eric hadn't budged from the window, his nosed glued to the glass, his breath fogging it in front of his eyes.

"Eric, honey?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes dear, I'll be there in a minute."

She wrapped her hands around his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. "Come on; let's let those two have some privacy."

"Sure, in a minute…I…it's just that…" he protested feebly as Annie led him away from the window. "Annie, what if…"

She grinned at her husband and laid a loving hand on his cheek. "Nothing will happen Eric; they are just in the back yard. We have to trust that they'll have enough sense not to do anything."

They both jumped guiltily as Martin and Ruthie came through the back door and almost bumped right into them. Absorbed in smiling at one another, their fingers laced tightly with goofy looks of pure adoring on their faces, they didn't notice Eric's hands shoot up to stop them from knocking him and Annie over.

Eric cleared his voice once, then again, this time much louder sounding almost like a hacking cough. Ruthie's face flamed a bright red, a sheepish grin matching Martin's spreading across her lips.

"Uh, hi dad, mom. Where'd you come from? Sorry we didn't even see you there."

Eric frowned slightly "I noticed. We almost became teenage love road kill."

Annie tsked and elbowed her husband in the ribs.

"Ouch, what'd you do that for?" Eric whined, rubbing his side.

She ignored him, put Savannah in her extra high chair and turned to her daughter with her arms out ready to hug her. "Oh, Ruthie, we haven't seen you this happy in such a long time."

"Mom," she complained loudly as her mom squeezed her in a joyous hug.

"And you Martin…"

His lips curved into a beautiful half smile and stepped slightly behind Ruthie in quiet embarrassment as Annie tried gathering them both in her arms. She settled on cupping his cheek and patting it with affection. Mac and Maggie joined them, settling their backs against the kitchen's island.

"Mr. and Mrs. Camden, I promise to take really good care of Ruthie," he smiled and twined their fingers once more, his thumb stroking her knuckles.

"Martin, you know you can call us Eric and Annie. Actually, we insist upon on it. Don't we Eric?" she asked, nudging him again.

"Yeah," he said and was rewarded with another jab, "Of course we do." He assured him and then smiled at the glow of happiness surrounding the two teens.

"Well its about time. I tell you waiting for the two of you getting together was like waiting for bad movie to end." Mac slapped Martin on the arm good naturedly. "Congratulations man, you deserve to be happy. You ever decide to leave this shlub Ruthie, you know my number." His eyebrows wriggled comically.

Maggie smacked him on the arm before turning to Martin. "You better take good care of her Martin. We don't want two broken hearts do we?" she threatened, grinning at the look of astonishment on Martin's face.

"It's time that we get going. Thank you for having me over for dinner Mr. and Mrs. Camden; it was quite a…interesting night. Come on Romeo, you can walk me home."

She hugged Ruthie tightly and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad your dreams came true."

Ruthie sighed happily, "Thanks Mag's. You and Mac seem pretty cozy, any chance that…?"

Maggie pulled away and flushed a deep red and shrugged, clearing her voice before speaking, "Good night everyone."

"Thank you for coming over Maggie, it was our pleasure. And Mac, it's always interesting when your around," said Eric, shaking Mac's hand heartily.

Linking their arms together, Mac tipped an imaginary hat as Maggie tugged him out the door. Annie feigned a huge yawn, stretching out her arms widely, looking at her watch quickly before turning to Eric.

"Well dear, its been a long day, let's say we put Savannah down and call it a night?" she said, scooping up the baby delicately.

"What? Oh yes, it was great seeing you again Martin. Don't stay up too late Ruthie," he kissed her cheek, following Annie up the back stairs.

Ruthie rolled her eyes and sighed, leaning against Martin's warm chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Finally alone. Can you believe dad, I mean…"

A deep chuckle in her hair warmed her neck and ruffled a few strands. "He's only looking out for his youngest daughter. You can't blame him; I'd do the same thing." He eased her around so that she was facing him, dropping a soft kiss on her upturned lips.

A wary look showed in her eyes. She tried turning her face so that he couldn't read her look. He lifted her chin to look at him, a concerned note entering his voice, "Ruthie, what is it? What's wrong?"

Untangling herself from his arms she suddenly felt cold and held her hands out to stop him from pulling her back into his arms. "What about Aaron and Sandy? We can't just ignore that part of your life and pretend they don't exist."

He sucked in his bottom lip and nodded, understanding that she was speaking out of fear and concern. "Aaron is my son and I love him. I will always be in his life no matter what. As for Sandy, she and I are just friends and for the sake of Aaron we get along. That's a part of my life that I want you to be a part of too. I want you to get to know Aaron. I'm not so naïve as to think that it'll be easy for us, or that you'll want to be his mother…maybe one day you'll be ready for that, but for now, let's just take it one day at a time okay?" he asked stroking her arms, "Okay?"

She nodded and looped her arms around his neck on her tiptoes and kissed him gently, as if sealing a pact. He ran a hand through her hair and cupped the back of her head, deepening the kiss til they were both breathless.

"I want us to work this out Martin. I love you so much; just promise me that we'll work on this together?"

"We just truly found each other; I'm not ready to give that up for anything. I'm addicted now." He chuckled, grasping her hand when she playfully went to hit him and ran his warm lips across her palm.

A sensuous tingle went up her back, her brown eyes darkening with awareness at the passion she read in Martin's eyes. Ruthie tried stifling a yawn, not wanting Martin to see or their time together to end.

"I think its time someone went to bed, you're falling asleep standing up. Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow morning, I promise," he whispered huskily when she tried to protest. "I'll stay the night at dads and I'll be back over bright and early…if you want, I'd like to take you to meet Aaron."

"I would love to. Your sure Sandy won't mind?"

"Not at all, in fact she'd probably like the break so that she could go visit Simon and Rose. I love you Ruthie, we'll figure everything out, together. Good night…" wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her tightly to him, feathering kisses over her eye lids, her nose and her cheeks before settling on her lips.

He gazed back at her as he closed the door and waved before going through the back gate. Ruthie tenderly touched her lips with her fingers before sighing happily and running up the back stairs to her attic bedroom.


	8. Chapter 8

_This chapter is a little short, but it was dancing in my head all through dinner and just had to write it down before I went crazy, lol. This one is for you guys:)_

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The next morning Ruthie bounded down the stairs with excitement.

"Morning mom, good morning dad," she chirped, kissing both of them on the cheek, swiping a still warm from the oven muffin from the kitchen counter.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning. This wouldn't have anything to do with Martin now would it?" Annie asked a small smile on her face.

Ruthie's eyes danced with happiness and kidded, "It might. Oh," she began, her mouth full of muffin, "Martin and I are going up to his place today to spend the day with Aaron, so I probably won't be home til late."

Eric folded the newspaper he was reading and laid it on the table in front of him. "Ruthie, shouldn't you two take it slow, ease into all of this? You just started seeing each other last night. I just don't want you to get hurt is all," he quickly added when Ruthie folded her arms and frowned.

"No, we are going slowly and…" a knock on the door was just the distraction they needed as the tension in the room began to grow.

Slinging her purse over her shoulder Ruthie opened the door to a warm kiss and quick hug.

"Good morning beautiful," Martin raised his head slightly and grinned, laughing quietly to cover the awkwardness of being watched intently by Eric and Annie. "Ahh, good morning, Annie, Eric." he stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet before nodding. "Beautiful day out there isn't it?"

"Why yes, it is. Very beautiful," Annie grinned, placing her hand over Eric's.

"Well…we should get going, we don't want to be too late," Ruthie said, yanking Martin towards the door. "Bye mom, bye dad."

"Have a nice day you two. Drive safely and say hi to Sandy for us," Eric called out as Martin shrugged and followed Ruthie out the door.

"I know," he kissed Annie's lips quickly, stopping her from saying what he knew was coming next, "we have to learn to trust them and I promise I'm working on it. I am," he swore to her as her eyebrows rose.

_**An hour later…**_

Martin smiled at Ruthie with encouragement and squeezed her hand as they walked towards Sandy's first floor apartment, a warm breeze ruffling their hair.

"I know he's just a baby, and it's silly for me to be nervous…it's just, I want him to like me."

"I promise; he'll fall in love with you just as I have. There's no need to be nervous." He assured her, hugging her to his side.

With a hopeful smile on her face she knocked on the door and stumbled into Martin as it swung open, a shared look of shock on their faces.

"Simon." Ruthie gasped.

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_If anyone wants another chapter, just let me know and I'll cook one up for you :)_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story or the Bob the Builder character, lol.

_So here we go ladies a quick chapter for today, hope you all like it! Wouldn't it be nice if we wrote for the show and were able to have certain things happen? hehehe

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_

Simon smiled awkwardly. "Uhh, hi Ruthie, Martin," he stepped out, almost stumbling over his own feet to give his sister a quick hug and Martin a nervous handshake.

He glanced over his shoulder and released a sigh of relief when Sandy came into the room. "Look who's here, Martin and Ruthie," Simon announced with a pleading look in his eyes for her to save him.

Sandy laughed and patted his shoulder in sympathy. "I know. Martin called me last night and asked to spend the day with Aaron. Come on in guys and make yourselves at home, I'm just finishing up packing Aaron's diaper bag."

They slid past Simon with confused, curious looks on their faces before settling down on the green flowered sofa.

"So," he said, clapping his hands together as he sat in a chair across from them, "you two are finally seeing each other hunh? That's great, I'm so happy for you two. You just watch your step there Martin, that's my little sister and I don't like to see her get hurt. Wow can you believe the time?" he rambled and laughed nervously, bouncing his knee and looking at his watch before getting up to pace the room.

Ruthie raised an eyebrow and relaxed back onto the sofa and Martin's arm. "Simon, where's Rose?" she asked out of politeness and a burning desire to know what was going on.

Simon hesitated, grinning at his sister and boyfriend who were waiting for an answer. "Hunh? Oh you mean Rose, my fiancée Rose. She's meeting with an old friend of hers, Mikel, for lunch and then looking over some flower arrangements or something. She kicked me out of the apartment saying that she needed to _concentrate_ on finding just the _perfect_ ones," he answered when Ruthie tried to interrupt.

"I mean, they are just flowers, slap a few together and they look great, right? How hard can that be?" he laughed, looking to Martin to back him up. "So I decided to come and visit a friend." He blushed.

"Here we are." Sandy whisked into the room with Aaron on her hip, the diaper bag slung over her shoulder. "Now, there's enough formula and diapers in there for a few hours, if you need more you know where the key is. Oh, it is so good to see you Ruthie," she hugged Ruthie tightly as she and Martin rose from the couch.

"You too Sandy. You got a nice place here," she said, glancing around the tiny, but neat apartment.

"Thanks. Do you want to hold him?" she asked her when a look of longing crossed Ruthie's face.

She glanced over at Martin and he smiled reassuringly. Opening her arms, she gingerly held Aaron and flushed with happiness as his daddy's green eyes looked up at her with trust, a tiny hand tapping her chin as if he was trying to draw her closer to him. Martin came up behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder and reached a hand over to rest a warm hand on his son's soft downy head.

"Looks like you two have everything you need," she handed Martin the diaper bag and kissed her son on the forehead as Simon walked to her side. "Bye my love, mommy will see you later. You be a good boy."

Aaron gurgled as if answering her, bouncing his miniature legs in his dark blue "Bob the Builder" overalls. Simon touched her shoulder; she glanced back at him with a beaming, contented look on her face. She flushed at the knowing looks Ruthie and Martin threw her and shook her head as if trying to tell them not to read too much into Simon being at her apartment.

"Simon and I are heading out for a late breakfast and then a drive around the city. Maybe we'll see Rose along the way at some point?" she asked, her fingers crossed behind her back, hoping they didn't but too polite to say otherwise.

Ruthie choked back a laugh because no matter how hard Sandy was trying to hide it, she knew that she wasn't overly fond of Rose either.

"All right, we'll see you guys later, I'm starving," Simon groaned and held his stomach as everyone laughed at him.

As soon as the door was closed, Martin sank back down onto the couch and pulled Ruthie and Aaron into the curve of his chest, stroking her hand as she fussed over the baby.

"So how long do you think they'll pretend like they don't have feelings for each other?" Martin asked. "Cause its pretty obvious that no one can stand Rose."

"That's an understatement," Ruthie retorted, looking up into his eyes. "I'm sure she's a good person, somewhere in there…but you'll have to take a high powered magnifying glass to find it."

_

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I've said it once, but I'll say it again, you guys are awesome...its hard not to cry myself while reading your reviews, hehe, anyways, I hope to write some more sometime this week. Does anyone have any suggestions or idea's that they'd like to see in the story?_


	10. That's Some Kind of Picnic

_Hi guys! Let me start off with a big hug to everybody for the wonderful reviews…and thank you so much for sharing your great ideas for the story, promise to put them in there :) There's some kind of drama coming up, lol._

_A/N: There's just a few more chapters to come, I just hope they aren't too...well let's just say, I hope that they are okay. lol_

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The park was busy with life, joggers enjoying the mid afternoon sun, families walking their dogs down by the waters edge and fierce competitors tossing a Frisbee on the endless sea of green grass. 

"Here's good," Ruthie said, sinking down onto the green and white checkered blanket Martin had laid out under a shady willow tree, placing the baby carrier beside her.

"Any place is good when you're here," he wiggled his eyebrows, grinning devilishly, laughing at her expression.

"You're hopeless," she quipped, rolling her eyes as she tucked a thin blanket lovingly around the baby who was suckling on his fist.

"Hopelessly in love," batting his eyelashes, he cupped his hands under his chin and puckered his lips.

She slapped him playfully and rubbed Aaron's stomach as he fought to keep his eyes open. He sighed contentedly and snuggled his head into the softness of his Winnie-the-Pooh blanket.

"He's beautiful isn't he?" Martin whispered, leaning over his son with an expression of pure love written clearly on his face. He glanced over at Ruthie an inched his head towards hers, laying a soft but quick kiss on her lips.

"What was that for?"

He shrugged and turned towards the picnic basket, placing the plastic forks and knives beside containers of their favourite fast food fried chicken and potato salad.

"Because your you, your beautiful and I love you." He slid her a glance and flashed her a crooked grin.

Her face flamed red and suddenly becoming shy, pretended to fuss over the baby. "Who said anything about love? I thought this was just a quick fling." She turned away so that he couldn't see her teasing smile.

Without warning Martin pounced on her, his chest holding hers down, pinning her arms to her sides, uncaring if others saw. Laughing quietly, his eyes turned a deep emerald with passion.

"Just a fling hunh?" he asked his lips mere inches from hers, teasing her by pulling away when she tried to kiss him.

Feeling something mushy touch her fingertips Ruthie looked down and found the lid of the potato salad lying beside an almost empty container. "Of course, didn't anyone tell you, I got a guy pregnant and so this can only be a fling."

Laughing at Martin as his eyes narrowed, she smeared his hand with mashed potato-like salad and when he let go to clean his hands with disgust, she grabbed a whole handful and tossed it at him.

"Oh you think so?" he asked, resting on his knees, his one hand reaching for salad.

"Not only do I think so, but I…" a familiar shriek of laughter drew their attention towards a couple walking past on the concrete path.

The woman leaned in towards the tall brunette man beside her and laid her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her with a bright smile and wrapped a loose arm around her shoulders, pulling her closely to him.

"Hey isn't that…"

Pushing herself up from the blanket and facing the path she was able to see more clearly. "It's Rose alright. I would have recognized that fake cackle anywhere. But who's she with? It sure as heck isn't Simon, unless he ditched Sandy somewhere, grew four inches in the last two hours and dyed his hair. What the heck does she think she's doing?"

"Ruthie, just hold on a second," Martin held her arm to stop her from getting up. "We don't know exactly what's going on, it could be innocent for all we know. Or not," he pulled back at the stormy look on her face.

"If that…that…" she spit out the next word, "witch, thinks she's going to get away with cheating on my brother, she's going to have to deal with me. Don't look at me like that, I might be small but I can pack a mean left swing. Let me go Martin," she tried pulling her arm out of his grip, but stopped when she heard a cheerful hello come from behind them.

Turning on the blanket, Martin and Ruthie smiled warily up at Simon and Sandy, who were standing so closely, you could swear they were almost touching. Unfortunately for Rose, she heard the voice too and froze with her lips a few inches from the dark haired strangers, with a dumb expression on her face.

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_So...what do you think? Does it look okay so far? _


	11. Future Happiness?

_Here's the last chapter of the story...it was so much fun to write for you all and because it was nice being able to put certain people together and see it to the end! Here's to a wonderful weekend for you all, I hope you like this one :) Shh, don't tell anyone...I'm not that great a fan of Rose's either, hehehe_

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"Uhh, hi Simon. How'd you find us here?" Ruthie faked a laugh and let it die away when she saw her brother look right past them at the still frozen Rose.

The baby stirred in his carrier and let out a little cry. Martin took the baby's bottle out of a thermos of hot water they had brought with them and handed Aaron and the bottle to Sandy when she reached out her arms after sinking down uneasily beside Ruthie.

"This is not good," Sandy muttered beneath her breath, sharing a sad little smile with Ruthie and Martin.

"I see you've had a productive day," Simon called, raising his voice, as he stepped over the blanket and began walking towards Rose, meeting her a few feet from his sister and friends.

Stupidly, the dark haired stranger followed and was about to go to Rose's side til she raised a hand, telling him to wait. "I could say the same thing," she mocked, tilting her head towards the wide eyed Sandy.

"I thought you were supposed to meet your friend Mikel to go help you with the flower arrangements for _our wedding_."

Mikel had the good grace to flush.

"We did. Simon, this is my friend Mikel. Mikel, this is my fiancé Simon, his sister Ruthie and their friends Martin and Sandy."

They all waved and said hi weakly.

"I thought Mikel was a girl," Martin whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Ruthie who nodded that she had thought the same thing.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you Simon. Rose has told me so much about you. And I'm the guy that's going to take her away from you," he mumbled beneath his breath. Smiling a toothy grin, he reached out a sun bronzed hand to Simon to shake and pulled it back when Simon glared at him.

"Well that's really interesting, cause see, I have heard nothing about you. Not even your name til today, which is interesting," he snickered, "because my fiancée normally tells me everything."

"You should talk Simon," Rose interrupted, "here you are getting all cozy with my 'supposed' best friend Sandy." She glanced down at her and mocked, "At least I don't go around and get knocked up by high school guys that can barely stand me."

"Hey…" Sandy began, handing the baby to Ruthie, getting up from the blanket and moving to Simon's side.

"Sandy stay out of it." Rose snapped at her, "Besides," she continued, "we weren't doing anything. We were just walking through the park after lunch and catching up on old times." Rose folded her arms, her nose tilting up in the air, almost as if she was daring Simon to mock her.

Simon took a step towards Rose, who put up her hands and backed right into Mikel who wrapped his hands around her arms to stop her from stumbling.

"Does catching up on old times consist of you in his arms, ready to kiss him? Sandy and I are only friends and you know that. You've never believed it though, no matter how many times I had to reassure you," he fought to keep his voice low when Aaron let out a frightened cry.

Martin and Ruthie's eyes bounced back and forth between the four people who looked like they were ready to haul off at any minute and hit someone.

Handing Ruthie a receiving blanket to place over her shoulder, Martin whispered close to her ear, "I'm placing my bet on the blond guy and the 'ready to strike at any minute' brown haired girl beside him."

Shifting the baby to her shoulder to burp and calm she grinned, "They could take them, easily."

"Look pal," Mikel held up his palms in innocence, "she's telling the truth, we didn't do anything. At least not yet," he curled his lip and smirked. "Oh shit," he backed off and was ready to run when Simon made to lunge at him. Stumbling over his own feet he fell to the ground with a loud thump.

"Simon…Simon grow up," Rose scolded before turning to Mikel to see if he was all right.

Taking a deep breath, Simon looked at the ground and then back at Rose. "How long has this been going on? Did it just start or have you two been seeing each other behind my back for a while?"

The look on Rose's face spoke volumes.

"How long?" he demanded, his voice cracking with pain.

Sandy rubbed his back and glared at Rose who was acting the devastated role to a hilt. Martin quickly packed the picnic basket and helped Ruthie strap the baby into his carrier and then into the stroller.

"I think this is our cue to leave," he said, pulling her up beside him.

Rose pinned them with a deadly look. "Where do you think you two are going? You are just as much to blame in this as Simon and Sandy are."

"Ruthie," Martin warned.

"Oh no," she assured him, "I'm not going to do anything that she doesn't deserve."

Sandy stepped in front of her. "Please, let me do the honours. I've been waiting to do this for a long time," raising her hand she pulled it back and slapped Rose across the face, leaving behind a bright red hand mark.

Ruthie shrugged and stepped back to Martin. "You did a good job, couldn't have done any better myself."

"Thanks," Sandy grinned and shook her hand to cool it down.

Simon caressed her warm palm and shook his head disbelievingly at what he had just witnessed.

"Excuse me, have we forgotten about something here?" Rose demanded their attention and rolled her eyes as Mikel waited for her to help him up. "This is about me. How could you do this to me Simon? Here we are about to get married and your off with Sandy. I always knew you were weak. Mommy and daddy made you that way."

People walking past had stopped to gawk and listen in on the little scene that was unfolding in front of them.

"Rose, you may want to calm down. You're going to pop that vein that's throbbing in your head, and I for one do not want to clean up after it." Martin laughed, causing the growing crowd to join in. He quieted down when her eyes seemed to blaze red.

Sighing with acceptance and a little bit of sadness, Simon looked at Rose with pity. "It took me a long time to realize and I thought I really loved you, but you only think about one person, and that's yourself. I couldn't marry someone like that, so you're free. She's all yours buddy," he slapped Mikel on the arm as he nodded for the other's to follow him.

"Simon, you don't know what you're talking about. Mikel means nothing to me…oh grow up," she hissed at Mikel he cried out at that. "We love each other, we're meant to be together…we're getting married in a couple of months. Simon…SIMON…" she yelled as he shook his head and kept on walking.

She whirled on Mikel and shrieked at him, "This is all your fault. _Don't worry Rose, he'll never find out. I love you Rose…_" she mocked him childishly. "Oh get out of my way," she pushed him and stalked off.

"Simon?" Sandy held his arm to stop him before he got in the driver's door of his car.

He looked at her with a mixture of relief and weariness on his face.

"I'm so sorry about what happened back there. What Rose said, it wasn't true. Not one word of it. You're a wonderful person that deserves only the best."

Simon lowered his eyes, looking at his feet for a moment before turning his eyes back up to hers, smiling slightly. "Thanks. I just can't believe I didn't see any of this before. How could I be so blind?"

She sighed. "Sometimes when you're in love, you don't always see a certain side of the other person. You see the good qualities, what makes them special and sometimes it takes a little while for our quirks to appear…as awful as she was back there, in a way you were lucky to find out who she really was before you got married."

Turning towards her fully, Simon pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "Thanks for always being there for me. Maybe it's you I should marry," he kidded softly, trying to find some humor in what had happened.

Blushing fiercely Sandy laughed and walked over to the passenger side and slid into her seat. "Let's take it one day at a time."

Buckling the last safety belt in place, Martin touched his son's cheek and looked at Ruthie who was sitting in the front seat. She twisted around to look back and smiled.

"There's no secret girl out there some where that you want to tell me about is there?" she joked.

He laughed and shook his head no. He closed the door and watched as his friends pulled out of the park's gravel lot and shook his head. _That Rose was a real piece of work_, he thought to himself as he got in beside Ruthie, resting his hand on the steering wheel.

"Promise me you won't find a guy like Moogle…."

"Mikel?"

He quirked an eyebrow and rested his nose on hers, smiling into her eyes. "Mikel, Moogle, what ever. Promise me that you won't make a friend like that where I'll have to kick his ass and you feel the need to go look at some 'flower arrangements'…and we'll always be honest with each other?" he asked when she laughed.

"I'll try," she said giggling against his lips when he growled at her.

"Ruthie…."

"I promise. Now shut up and come here," she laced her hands through his hair and opened her lips, like her heart had always been, to him.

**The End**

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_Thank you once again everyone for your kind reviews, wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for you all! My very first story finished...how did you all like it? And I may end up writing a sequel at some point :D_**


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